[nabs-l] Taking acting classes

Sat Nov 26 21:35:12 UTC 2011

Vejas,
I have vision and used what I saw as cues. I took acting or drama, as we 
called it in high school. No one questioned it.
I also used auditory clues of my partner and other characters to help
determine which spot to go to. Another clue was the stage set. I could 
feel/see the chair in front of me and that helped me know where to sit.
If you played a blind character you could use your cane, grin.

-----Original Message----- 
From: vejas
Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2011 4:09 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Taking acting classes

I'm pretty good at acting-only problem is moving around and
finding which exact spot to go to in a play-was interested in
drama but my aide thought it might be too visual and choq was the
better place to go
Vejas

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 26 Nov 2011 16:02:17 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Taking acting classes

Hi Bridgit,

I like your idea of becoming familiar  with the set.  Yeah you're
right that
stage sets are supposed to be set up the same way each time.  So
it?™s a
matter of memory then and familiarity.  Now that I think of it, I
did use my
cane on stage a little in high school drama class while
rehearsing.

What do you mean by performance-based classes? How is that
different than
theatre class?
Facial expressions are  vital to acting; but this wasn't an issue
for me.  I
think, and hope, I looked expressive as my voice was.
We did body exercises to warm up, but I don't remember doing face
exercises.
Of course, I only took acting 1 though.

You said

"When running lines, you may say the same word, or phrase, over
and over
in order to capture the proper tone and inflection."
I assume you did this in practice/rehearsals.

This makes me interested in trying it.  Maybe I should audition
for a
community play or my community college play.

Ashley

-----Original Message-----
From: Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011 4:21 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] Taking acting classes

Ashley,

I was sighted when I minored in theatre, but I took a couple of
performance-based classes while in my second go-around with
university.
I know we have several blind theatre majors here though.  I
memorized my
lines with JAWS- I have a good retention with my short-term
memory.  If
you do an entire play, though, I think it would be best to have a
Braille copy of the script.

I did some directing, which I love.  I helped direct a few scenes
for a
class even though I wasn't registered for it.  The instructor
also taught
another class that I was enrolled in, and she asked if I would be
willing to help direct in her other class.  I mostly referred to
my
computer for the script and my notes.  I had specific ideas for
the set,
costuming and actors.  It helped to go in already prepared, not
trying to
figure things out as we went along.

You could use your cane on stage, but if you're not suppose to be
blind,
it may look a little odd to the audience.  Perhaps you could grow
very
familiar with the set so you could walk around safely.  Stage
sets are
suppose to be set up the exact way each time, so if you were
accustomed
to it, it would make maneuvering around it a bit more easy, and
you
could leave your cane off stage so when done, you had your cane
to get
around with.

Facial expression is a vital part of the acting process.  You
want to
convey the right emotions and characteristics connected with a
character.  We would do face exercises along with body exercises
to warm
up, and loosen things up.  Whether stage acting or acting for
film and
television, using appropriate facial expressions, and being
expressive
in general, is very important.  When acting, you create specific
expressions, movements, inflections, tones, etc.  Every little
detail is
disected and explored, then the actor constructs the character,
cognitive of each movement, each expression and how each word is
said.
When running lines, you may say the same word, or phrase, over
and over
in order to capture the proper tone and inflection.

The voice is probably the most important aspect of theatre
because tone
can convey and imply a lot.  I was in a local theatre's play, The
Outsiders, and we wore face masks so our performance was
dependent on
the voice and body movement.  We had to convey so much with voice
and
body.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 15
Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:43:22 -0500
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] taking acting classes
Message-ID: <A29CB5F9B0F141EDB5CCB4FC5C090B09 at OwnerPC
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hi all,

What Bridgit said about acting class brought back memories.
She said
?Acting, at least stage acting, pays a lot of attention to
body movement and facial expressions.  Voice is also extremely
important.
Taking an acting class can assist with more natural body
movements, but
be aware that in an acting class, you'll be expected to perform
in front
of your peers, being judged.  If you can't handle constructive
criticism,
or are extremely introverted, an acting class may not be the best
option.  Even in a more informal acting class, you will have to
perform
monologues and duets and group scenes.?

Bridgit, you have a minor in theatre; I haven?t met a blind
person who
did that before.  Of course you were sighted, so can draw upon
your
experience learning facial expressions and visual expressions.
Did you
braille the script for memorizing it? I cannot memorize by
listening
except for song lyrics! I?m wondering how a blind actor would
move
around the stage safely.  I mean you have obstacles up there and
won?t
have your cane since you?re another character.  I just depended
on my
vision.  Interesting that Bridgit says acting class pays a lot of
attention to
body movement and facial expressions.  I don?t recall that
happening.  We
did focus on  voice though; like volume, tone and expression.

I took acting in high school and the teacher was very easy.  I
did not
learn much from it.  We spent too much time watching movies
rather than
acting.  But I won?t forget our final where we had to do a
monologue.
That was hard! I prefered working with a partner because their
words
clued me into what I had to say.

In college, I also took acting.  We did  a number of things.
They ranged
from partner work acting scenes, improvization, something like
sherades
where you stand in front of everyone and pretend to do a day
activity,
and of course actual acting with small groups or a partner.  We
did
warmups to  loosen up; the instructor was very accomodating and
showed
me these stretches and exercises.  I enjoyed it.  Our acting
exercises
revolved around sensory awareness, and a lot of this was not
visual.  A
few were visual exercises which we adapted; like mimicking what
someone
did with their hands.  She stressed to be aware of all your
senses and
surroundings.  For instance, we did an exercise that you
responded to
someone?s tone.  Another was where you simply went and touched a
classmate?s hand.  She guided us in what to observe.  Was it
rough or
soft? Rinkled or smooth? Boney? I guessed the guy I touched was
athletic
due to his large muscular hands, and If I remember correctly, I
was
right.

She did say you had to show expression, but not just facial
expressions,
but expressions and movement with your whole body.  We were
definitely
judged on our performance by peers and the instructor who herself
was an
actress.  Still, it was fun.  She never said anything about me
needing to
be visually expressive, so maybe I was expressive enough as my
girl
characters, or maybe it didn?t occur to her to say anything.  Oh,
we did
not watch movies either.  So, I got a lot out of the class.

For the acting scenes, I asked the school to braille them.  I got
an A in
the class.

Ashley

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